TAMPA, Fla. – Those who follow upsets closely know the 12-5 match-up has produced it’s fair share of upsets in the history of the NCAA Tournament

But coach Darrin Horn said he didn’t come to Tampa to upset anyone.

“We’re trying to win,” Horn said. “The seed, and the match-up to us are irrelevant from the standpoint that we want to come out and find a way to win the game.”

Western is the 12-seed in the West region and will play the fifth-seeded Drake Bulldogs.

“We’ve all picked brackets in the past,” Drake senior forward Klayton Korver said. “We know all about that, but last year there weren’t any, so I guess we’re hoping for that again this year.”

Senior guard Courtney Lee said the Toppers don’t consider themselves underdogs in Friday’s game.

“We pretty much know the history of the 12 seeds playing five seeds,” Lee said. “We’re going to come out and play as hard as we can and hopefully duplicate that.”

Western is making their 20th appearance in the tournament. Friday’s game will be first appearance for Drake since 1971.

While the 12-5 seed upset potential is an obvious storyline in Tampa this weekend, Drake coach Keno Davis said he believes the play of the post players is a hidden storyline.

“When you get to the NCAA Tournament, you realize you can’t just rely on your outside shooting,” Davis said. “You’ve got to be able to find a way to score inside, get to the free-throw line.”

If the focus is on the inside play, that maybe good news for Western.

Starting forward, sophomore Jeremy Evans enters the tournament having averaged 13 points per game in the Sun Belt Tournament. Evans was also named the tournament’s most valuable player after posting 20 points and 14 rebounds in the Toppers win over Middle Tennessee State in the championship.

Evans inside counterpart, freshman forward D.J. Magley has also started to show more success. Magley had six points, four steals and six rebounds in the Topper’s semifinal game against Arkansas Little-Rock in the Sun Belt Tournament.

“I think my all-around game and playing better defense has improved,” Magley said. “I’m just trying to play well for my team. In the minutes I play, I do my best to play hard for the team.”

Horn said he took heat from various people early in the season for playing Magley the amount of minutes he did and the lack of production from Magley.

“We just felt like if we stuck with him he could do some thing that nobody else on our team could do,” Horn said. ” I think the last two or three weeks has really proven that out, especially in the conference tournament.”

Drake’s biggest player, junior forward Jonathan Cox is a six-foot, eight-inch, 225-pound forward that averages 11.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.

“I think the thing that’s most impressive about them is they all seem to know their role,” Horn said. “Whether it’s making shots from the perimeter or being a guy that just gets in there and rebounds. They’re really good at offensive rebounding the basketball.”

Both team’s guards bring plenty of star power, whether it’s Lee and senior Tyrone Brazelton for Western or senior guard Leonard Houston and sophomore guard Josh Young for Drake.

Lee and Brazelton average 20.3 and 13.9 points per game, respectively. While Houston and Young average 15.8 and 14 points per game. The Bulldogs also get 10 points per game from Korver.

“I think it’s important that we identify their shooters,” Young said. “Courtney Lee, we’ve seen him play, he’s a great talent. So I think it’s important we put a lot of focus on him.”

Horn said Lee is Western’s best player, but Brazelton maybe the Topper’s most important.

“I think that he’s that starting point of everything that we do offensively and defensively and he’s made a huge impact on every game he’s played in this year,” Horn said. “And hopefully that can come true tomorrow as well.”

Western and Drake tip off at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Reach Andrew Robinson at sports@chherald.com.